Harvesting machines, usually described as beet harvesters, which are used to harvest sugar beets, potatoes and other root crops typically excavate, clean and discharge the crops into a truck for transport to a processing plant. The crops are temporarily stored in piles at the processing plant until these crops can be processed. In the conventional beet harvesting machine, the excavated beets, potatoes or other crops are cleaned by various cleaning devices including cleaning rolls before the crops are discharged from the harvesting machine. It is desirable to clean the beets or potatoes as efficiently as possible while minimizing damage to the beets or potatoes. Beets, potatoes or other root crops are often damaged by the cleaning mechanisms during the harvesting operation. For example, damaged beets bleed prior to further processing and thereby diminish the yield of the beets.